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Roboticist Robert Katzschmann with his AUV SoFi at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL)

Credit: Joseph DelPreto

Video released today debuts a lifelike aquatic robot named SoFi, about the size of a full grown orange-lined triggerfish whose been keeping company with the residents of the Pacific Ocean. The silicon bionic fish built by roboticist Robert Katzschmann is the newest scion of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL).

Most underwater robotic systems are unable to slip into a natural environment undetected. With tethers and spinning propellers and jets, they often alienate the very creatures they’re trying to get close enough to study. SoFi is an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) with onboard sensors that mimic marine organisms for a stealth undercover job. Operating at depths up to 18 meters, its buoyancy is controlled by adjusting the angles of its fins, called dive planes. SoFi navigates around coral, mixing with local fish by undulating a tail made flexuous by silicone rubber. “To our knowledge, this is the first robotic fish that can swim untethered in three dimensions for extended periods of time,” says Katzschmann.

SoFi was designed to function as a mobile underwater observatory capturing real-time marine activity. The AUV will provide valuable feedback about how ocean life is adapting to rapid changes in the environment. Katzschmann is also hopeful his fish will allow marine biologists to observe marine life interacting with each other as well as with SoFi. "Definitely the purpose is to influence, not just observe," says Katzschmann, "We have a platform that can now be used to do those studies."